Vehicle
Smart Fortwo
The two-seat city car, and the vehicle in this catalogue whose layout most often catches people out: the engine is behind the seats and drives the rear wheels. A misfire diagnosis that starts at the front of the car starts in the wrong place. The other fact that decides everything is the gearbox — the 450 and 451 use an automated manual, a clutch and an actuator rather than a torque converter, so its codes concern clutch wear and actuator position and read nothing like an automatic's.
Generations
-
450 1998–2007
Rear-engined three-cylinder, petrol and a small diesel; the automated manual throughout.
- Body styles
- Coupé · Convertible
- Platform
- Smart 450
- Engines
-
- 0.6 turbo three-cylinder — M160 · petrol · 33–74 kW (44–99 hp) · 70–130 Nm (52–96 lb-ft)
- 0.7 turbo three-cylinder — petrol
- 0.8 cdi three-cylinder — OM660 · diesel · 30–40 kW (40–54 hp) · 100–130 Nm (74–96 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 6-speed automated manual
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
-
451 2007–2014
Mitsubishi-built three-cylinder petrol; the first electric drive versions appear late.
- Body styles
- Coupé · Convertible
- Platform
- Smart 451
- Engines
-
- 1.0 three-cylinder — petrol · 45–75 kW (60–101 hp) · Mitsubishi 3B21
- 1.0 turbo three-cylinder — petrol · 45–75 kW (60–101 hp) · Brabus
- 0.8 cdi three-cylinder — OM660 · diesel · 33–40 kW (44–54 hp) · 110–130 Nm (81–96 lb-ft)
- 17.6 kWh electric — electric · electric drive
- Transmissions
- 5-speed automated manual · Single-speed reduction
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
-
453 2014–2024
Developed with Renault, sharing its platform with the Twingo; a dual-clutch gearbox replaces the automated manual, and an electric version runs alongside.
- Body styles
- Coupé · Convertible
- Platform
- Renault–Daimler Edison
- Engines
-
- 1.0 three-cylinder — M281 · petrol · 45–92 kW (60–123 hp) · 87–200 Nm (64–148 lb-ft) · Renault H4D
- 0.9 turbo three-cylinder — M281 · petrol · 66–80 kW (89–107 hp) · 87–200 Nm (64–148 lb-ft) · Renault H4Bt
- 17.6 kWh electric — electric · EQ fortwo
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual · 6-speed dual-clutch · Single-speed reduction
- Drivetrain
- Rear-wheel drive
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
Posted about the Smart Fortwo
Be the first to write this up
Nothing posted about this yet. Whatever you found is worth writing down — even a dead end saves someone the same afternoon.
What makes one worth reading:
- The car — make, model, year and engine. The same fault behaves differently on each.
- What you measured, not only what you replaced.
- What actually fixed it — or that nothing did, which is worth knowing too.
Sign in or create an account to add what you found about Smart Fortwo.